Topics

1

Nintendo Gaming / Weird controller patent... what do you think?

« on: December 14, 2015, 06:02:36 PM »

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/12/nintendo-touchscreen-controller-patent-offers-clues-about-upcoming-nx/

I saw this yesterday and I'm surprised we don't have an article up yet. It looks very interesting and even compelling to me. Just wondering what everyone else thinks.

2

General Chat / ...

« on: November 26, 2015, 04:10:57 AM »

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3

Nintendo Gaming / DS Lite battery life during GBA sleep mode

« on: August 13, 2015, 05:43:17 PM »

I just bought a brand new DS Lite and I'm playing Metroid Zero Mission on it for the first time. I don't want my game to die if I put it in sleep mode, but I don't want to have to start over from the title every time I want to pick up and play. Does anyone know what the DS Lite battery life is like while playing GBA games in sleep mode?

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Nintendo Gaming / NX smartphone SKU?

« on: July 25, 2015, 07:51:28 PM »

I realize there is a NX speculation thread, but it is very broad, and I wanted to bring up a more specific topic. With the way smartphones are sort of crowding out handheld gaming, I wonder if Nintendo is considering adding in smartphone technology to its NX portable. (I assume that NX is going to have a home console and a portable).


I think it's not too far fetched to imagine a lighter, thinner New 3DS with a capacitive touch LCD on the back of the clamshell. It would function as a phone when closed and a game system when opened. This might be released alongside a normal, phone-less SKU, kind of like Nintendo did with the Gamecube and the Panasonic Q.


You might say that this has been done before with Xperia Play and NGage, but those had horrible designs, implementation, marketing, etc. The Vita has 3G, but it's worthless. Sony was not willing to take enough risks with it either the Play or the Vita. If there was a Vita with Android that doubled as a smartphone, that would be my phone.

One major weakness in this strategy is that people like to "refresh" their smartphones periodically. Newer sleeker models are constantly being released, whether it's Android, iPhone, or Windows. If Nintendo sold a smartphone SKU alongside of the base SKU, they could continue to market the base model SKU, largely unchanged for years, while still making periodic re-releases of the smartphone models (with better battery life, features, etc.) The smartphone capabilities would get better over time to keep up with the Joneses, but it would always maintain that "NX3DS" base model capability.


Maybe a partnership with Samsung, LG, or some other big Android phone manufacturer would help bridge this gap that's growing between dedicated gaming handhelds and smart devices. Maybe even partnering with Apple is not out of the question. Obviously Microsoft is a no.


I would buy something like this, especially if it was backward compatible with 3DS and eShop. It would cut two of my devices down to one, but I wouldn't have to sacrifice any functionality - which is a big deal. I hate not having mechanical controls for my games. What are your thoughts?